James stark



(No Merle-111)] J. STARK.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR OIL LAMPS.

No] 436,879. Patented Sept. 23, 1890 F/Gi F/GZ.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JAMES STARK, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR OIL-LAM PS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,879, dated September 23, 1890.

Application filed March 29, 1890.

Serial No. 345,875. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES STARK, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, in England, have invented a certain new and useful Safety Apparatus for Oil- Lamps, (for which applications for patents have been filed,but not yet granted, in Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Germany,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

Automatic lamp-extinguishers as hitherto made have generally the drawback that they require an alteration of the burner or a specially-constructed lamp, and cannot therefore be applied without considerable expense.

My invention has for its object to provide an automatic extinguisher, which can be applied to any ordinary fiat-wick burner without changing the shape or construction of the same, which operates without balance weights or balls, and combines the greatest simplicity with certainty of action.

In the following, description reference will be made to the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1 is a section of an ordinary fiatwick burner provided with an automatic extinguisher embodying my invention, while Figs. 2, 3, and 4 represent the extinguisher separately in different positions.

The extinguisher consists of a pair of perforated caps A A, hinged together at their base by means of a pair of outside pins B B, parallel with the edge of the wick-tube D. These caps are made of such a shape and size as to fit over the wick-tube without being fixed thereto, and are provided with short feet a,- which in the normal position of the extinguisher rest upon the burner-floor, as shown by Fig. 1, and thereby keep the cap in unstable equilibrium. Each cap is stamped or pressed from a piece of sheet metal so as to form an approximately rectangular cup; but the lower side or flange is cut out so as to leave at the ends a pair of projecting hingepieces for the hinge-pins B and in the center a projecting lug, which is then bent outward, so as to form the foot or mentioned above.

The extinguisher is thus entirely supported by the burner-floor, and can be easily applied to any burner of corresponding size Without requiring any instruments or skilled labor.

If the lamp is suddenly tilted, the extinguisher will lose its equilibrium, and the upper cap will approach the lower one by turning on its hinges until the extinguisher assumes the position shown by Fig. 2, in which the wick E is covered by the extinguisher and the lower cap rests against the inside of the burner-dome F.

Each cap is provided with an aperture of any suitable shape or with a number of perforations, through which the necessary air may pass to the flame. The side view, Fig. 3, shows a star-shaped air-passage c.

What I claim is 1. The combination of a fiat-wick lampburner with an automatic extinguisher consisting of a pair of loose caps A, adapted to slide over the Wick-tube and hinged together at their base, the said extinguisher being only supported by the burner-floor, and provided with a pair of feet a, adapted to support the extinguisher in a position of unstable equilibrium and to prevent it from opening wider than is necessary, substantially as described.

2. An automatic extinguisher for flat-wick oil-lamps, consisting of a pair of perforated caps A, adapted to fit over the wick-tube and hinged together at their base, each cap being stamped or pressed from a piece of sheet metal and the lower part out out so as to leave at the ends a pair of projecting hinge,- pieces and in the center a projecting lug, which is bent outward to form a foot a, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES STARK.

Witnesses:

J. WETTER,

E. C. BARKER. 

